US President Donald Trump said, "Cuba is next" on his list after the “successes” of military action in Venezuela and Iran. He was speaking at a Saudi-backed FII Priority investment forum in Miami on Friday, local time.
Trump quickly dismissed it and asked the media to “pretend I didn't say it”.
He did not specify what precisely he was planning to do with the island nation, but Trump has frequently said he believes the government in Havana, facing a severe economic crisis, is on the verge of collapse.
According to Reuters, the Trump administration has opened up negotiations with Cuba in recent weeks. He himself has hinted that kinetic action is possible on several occasions.
What did Trump say on Friday?
"I built this great military. I said, 'You'll never have to use it.' But sometimes you have to use it," Trump told the conference on Friday.
“And Cuba is next, by the way!” Trump said. "But pretend I didn't say that. Pretend I didn't."
“Please, please, please, media, disregard that statement. Thank you very much,” the US president said.
On Monday, Trump said he believes he will have the "honour" of taking Cuba.
“I do believe I’ll be the honour of — having the honour of taking Cuba. That’d be a good honour — that’s a big honour. I mean, whether I free it, take it. I think I can do anything I want with it, you want to know the truth,” Trump said.
He had said Cuba may be subject to a "friendly takeover," before adding: "It may not be a friendly takeover."
Cuba takeover?
Earlier this week, Rubio said that Cuba would collapse “on its own” and that Havana’s leaders “don’t know how to fix” it.
Cuba's economy has been battered by disruptions in oil imports, which it relies on to run power plants and transportation. Venezuela had provided much of Cuba's oil needs before the US operation to capture now-deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro in January.
The new Caracas government, under pressure from Washington, has ended those shipments.
‘Our military is prepared’: Havana
Reacting to Trump's frequent warnings of a Cuba takeover, the nation's deputy foreign minister, Carlos Fernández de Cossío, issued a stern warning to the United States, saying the island’s military is “prepared”.
Carlos told NBC that he couldn't comprehend why America would hit the island, noting that their “military is always prepared. And in fact it is preparing these days for the possibility of military aggression".
He said Cuba has always viewed such a possibility as distant and unlikely, but “it would be foolish not to stay prepared”.
Carlos also noted that Cuba’s economy sharply deteriorated after the Trump administration captured Maduro, and accused Washington of pressuring other countries with “coercive measures” to prevent fuel shipments to the island.
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